GREEN Property said it expected its Blanchardstown shopping centre development to be almost fully let when it opens in October. However, only 30 per cent of tenants have actually signed to occupy the £50 million centre.

Blanchardstown is expected to face stiff competition from Quarryvale, another shopping centre to be developed on a site about three miles away in a strategic location on the M50 at the junction of the Lucan Galway Road.

Green yesterday announced pre tax profits of £6.376 million, an increase of 58.2 per cent over the 1994 figure. The increase reflected an 18 per cent rise in rental income to £9.482 million and a £1.285 million profit on the disposal of property. Post tax profit for the year was £5.734 million, compared to £4.093 million the previous year.

The company said almost 50 per cent of space would be taken by British multiple retailers, mainly fashion operators. To date, it has sold space, totalling £15 million, to retailers such as Easons, Dunnes Stores, Roches Stores and cinema group UCI.

The company said up to 90 per cent of the total letting space was "in the process of legalisation" and it is on this basis that it expected the centre would be billy let when opened. The centre contains around 120 units, excluding anchor tenants such as Dunnes.

Asked whether Debenham's would take space in Blanchardstown, Green's managing director, Mr Stephen Vernon, said yesterday that there was "a real possibility" that the British multiple would come. "At the moment they are only taking one store - at the Jervis Street shopping centre".

Mr Vernon said Blanchardstown was on course for completion and the letting, campaign "has overwhelmed our expectations".

Green's Irish property portfolio is currently worth about £100 million and Mr Vernon said its value had increased by 6.4 per cent last year. Rent reviews fall due this year on approximately 40 per cent of its properties.

He said market conditions in Ireland remained favourable and there was no sign that the market had peaked yet. The company's gross borrowings were approximately £72 million and this was expected to rise to about £90 million by the end of this year.

Last year the company bought two British property portfolios in joint venture deals with GE Capital. Green paid £8.5 million for its share of £52 million sterling in mainly industrial property in Britain.

Mr Vernon said the properties were "good, high yielding stock" and the total return on the British portfolio was 10.9 per cent, mostly through rental income. He said Britain was still a buyer's market, but expected prices to harden slightly this year.

During 1995, the company disposed of £1.8 million worth of property, £500,000 at Harbourmaster 3 in Dublin; £1 million worth of property at Westgate business park in Dublin and £300,000 elsewhere.

The company is recommending a final dividend of 3.1p a share, representing a total dividend of 4.4p a share which is a 4.8 per cent increase over the 1994 figure. Most dividend pay outs last year were somewhat higher.

Green finance director, Mr Danny Kitchen, defended the pay out, saying Green's dividend policy reflected underlying rental growth, "rather than letting trading or profits be the driver".

Net assets per share have risen by 9.8 per cent, to 202p a share, compared to 184p a share last year.